MALVERN, Pa.--Sept. 19, 2005-- IKON Office Solutions, the world's largest independent channel for document management systems and services, today announced a three year agreement with VHA Inc., a national alliance of leading not-for-profit health care organizations, to provide document management solutions and services to VHA's network of 2,400 member organizations. Under the terms of the agreement, VHA member organizations can now access greater savings on IKON's leading document management solutions and services. The services begin with IKON's document strategy assessments, where IKON's team of 1,000 professional services analysts assess an organization's document workflow, and provide a blueprint for improving efficiency and managing costs. The contract also covers IKON's on-site managed services, through which IKON professionals manage document processes, copy centers and mailrooms on-site at a customer's location. Legal document services and digital imaging and conversion services are also included in the agreement, as is IKON's best-in-class portfolio of color and black-and-white copiers, printers and multifunction systems. "VHA's mission is to assist its members in achieving cost improvements and workflow efficiencies," said K. Jeffrey Hayes, senior vice president, business operations, at VHA. "As the world's largest independent channel for document management solutions and services, with considerable experience in the health care field, IKON is in a unique position to help VHA's members dramatically improve their document workflow efficiency, while also controlling costs. With the breadth of IKON's offerings--from assessments to solutions and support--we are confident that our member organizations will benefit from this national relationship with IKON." VHA members will also benefit from the IKON TRAC Solution(SM). This web-based enterprise management solution provides real-time measurement of key performance indicators in an on-site outsourcing environment, where IKON manages copy and print centers, mailrooms and fleets of office devices. As a result, on-site managed service customers can easily direct resources, assets and services to optimize efficiencies in their operations. "For nearly 30 years, VHA has been working hard to help its member organizations become more efficient and cost-effective," said Matthew J. Espe, chairman and chief executive officer, IKON Office Solutions. "With roughly 16,000 service professionals worldwide, IKON is uniquely positioned to provide the document process assessment, re-engineering, implementation, management and support services to help health care organizations increase efficiency, lower costs and comply with government and industry regulations. IKON is looking forward to putting its document management expertise in the health care field to work for VHA's member organizations." Many VHA members have already consulted with IKON, and are seeing results. For example, Hartford Hospital, an 830-bed acute care hospital, consulted with IKON to help the organization increase efficiency and lower costs in its document management operations. IKON conducted a comprehensive Document Strategy Assessment, which provided key data and metrics around the hospital's product environment and assets, including utilization rates and productivity analyses, print production applications, service and supply costs, floor plans and end-user satisfaction. Following the assessment, Hartford Hospital worked with IKON to implement various recommendations, including a consolidation of three print centers into one digital center managed by an IKON employee and print-on-demand forms using an online system for ordering, printing and copying. According to Hartford Hospital, the solution yielded savings of $400,000 in the first nine months, dramatically reduced warehouse space required for forms storage, and allowed the hospital to bring two-thirds of its outsourced documents in-house. "IKON took the time to understand our vision and goals. They worked with us as a partner to develop and implement a strategy that improved our processes, reduced our costs and helped us provide additional services to our affiliates," said Sharon Fried, director of materials management for Hartford Healthcare Corporation. "Based on the results we've experienced, I'd recommend IKON to any VHA member looking to maximize document efficiency across their organization."